First Belarusian satellite to be launched

The first Belarusian national remote sensing satellite BelKA (Belarusian spacecraft) will be launched in March 2006. The satellite, which has a maximum resolution of two meters, is designed for cartographic, metrological and agricultural surveys and will orbit the Earth at an altitude of 550 kilometers. The Russian Dnepr booster is set to launch the BelKA from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan. The Dnepr has been used to launch 22 spacecrafts from nine countries. Belarus has already received foreign proposals to sign contracts on the use of BelKA survey results.